MORE than 200 people reaching the end of their lives have been cared for in their own homes in Oxfordshire thanks to a new palliative care project.

Hospital Rapid Response supports people at the end of their life whose choice is to die at home rather than in hospital.

It aims to facilitate quick support for patients in hospital who have expressed a preference to be at home at the end of their life. 

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The project is a partnership between Oxford University Hospitals trust, Sobell House Hospice Charity, Macmillan Cancer Support and Social Finance.

The palliative care team at the trust supports the project by expediting discharge from hospital and then follows up with domiciliary care.

Since the launch in April this year, 230 people have received palliative care in their homes thanks to the project.

Dr Victoria Bradley, clinical lead for palliative medicine at the trust, said: “The initial phase of this project has been a huge success, and I’m delighted that we are now able to progress with subsequent stages. 

“The Hospital Rapid Response project aims to provide rapid support to patients in hospital who are at the end of their life, and get them home safely and quickly and with the right support in place if they would prefer to die there rather than in hospital.

“One of the main drivers of this overall project is to give people control and agency over their palliative care – Hospital Rapid Response is a continuation of this and supports our aims of delivering care closer to home with the right support in place.”

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Amelia Foster, chief executive at Sobell House Hospice Charity, said: “Sobell House Hospice Charity is delighted to be able to help fund this innovative rapid response service that will help more end of life patients die at home, if that is their choice.

“Crucially, it will also reduce non-elective bed days, benefitting the wider population that OUH serves by reducing the capacity issues being reported across the NHS.”

David Seychell, Macmillan senior manager for social investment for end of life care, said: “At Macmillan Cancer Support, we want everyone approaching the end of their lives to have their vital needs met by high-quality services and we are very proud to be a part of this collaboration supporting the people of Oxfordshire.

“After the initial success of this work, we are excited to be moving forward with the next phase of a rapid response service that will support early discharge from hospital, enabling people to have greater choice on where they want to be cared for when approaching the end of their lives.”

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This story was written by Anna Colivicchi, she joined the team this year and covers health stories for the Oxfordshire papers. 

Get in touch with her by emailing: Anna.colivicchi@newsquest.co.uk

Follow her on Twitter @AnnaColivicchi